Chadwick Boseman Shares Plot Details And The Political Relevance Of ‘Black Panther’

Next year will mark the release of ‘Black Panther‘ and the film’s lead Chadwick Boseman has taken some time to share a few new plot details about the film as well as how it reflects the world of today.

Social commentary isn’t new to cinema, and it looks as if the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be showing how their cinematic world is similar to ours in the upcoming movie. We were just given a slew of new stills from the movie so getting past the visuals we’re now getting some great details on what it’ll be about.

‘Black Panther” will throw audiences directly into the deep end of the nation of Wakanda. When we first met Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, he had just witnessed his father being killed in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ as this isolationist nation was trying to reach out to the rest of the world for the first time. As the most advanced country in the world, the latest leader now has to decide if he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps or keep with the tradition of his country.

According to Boseman when talking about Wakanda’s isolationist role and the changes his father was aiming for:

“That hasn’t traditionally been their attitude towards the rest of the world. [T’Chaka] wanted to step out of those boundaries. It’s a like a new leader taking power and trying to figure out if he should do it the older traditional way. You would think the younger man would want to do something different than the father, but the father – for a reason that I don’t want to say – was thinking ahead and beyond those boundaries.”

Initially, T’Challa wants to pull back into their own world. However, he isn’t known to run as the Black Panther. However, he is also a King now and has to do what is best for his people. Marvel Studios Kevin Feige explains:

“Part of the story is about the isolationist state of Wakanda coming to terms with the modern day. There are other people [in the story] who say, ‘No, we shouldn’t do that.’ You get into conversations about refugees. You get into conversations about, ‘Should we help the people on the other side of that border, because they need help and we could help them …. but it would potentially endanger us.’”

Now, before you start comparing too much with recent events, you do have to remember that this movie was written quite awhile back. The timing just makes this commentary more relevant.

Feige continues on this thought on where the director and co-writer Ryan Coogler went with the film:

“It is so rich in culturally relevant ideas. These are conversations we were having two years ago because that is inherently the story within the comics. Now it’s going to seem like the most highly fluid thing we could have done.”

As to when the film takes place and where T’Challa emotionally is at when the movie begins:

“It’s shortly after Civil War has ended so he’s still in mourning. There’s a guilt in terms of taking the throne. There’s a feeling that he wishes that his father would have been alive to see it if he would have given up the throne for being too old. That’s the ideal way. His mindset is one of guilt and unsureness because he doesn’t have [his father] there.”

While we’re used to seeing fighting and superheroes, and spies in our Marvel movies, this one is very much about politics:

“Generally, there is unrest because there’s no leader on the throne. We’re dealing with a similar thing right now in this country. Just because a person was elected doesn’t mean everybody agrees with the things he’s going to do. Having to make the first decisions … what do you do first? What do you choose to do that’s going to get everybody on your side? It’s a political drama essentially.”

We know that Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger will be making a play for the throne and while Boseman shares a few details about him we do learn that he won’t be the big bad of the movie:

“I can’t really say. Klaue is the real villain. I can say that I identify with Killmonger’s character. It’s going to be a fun character. He definitely has a different point of view. They are polar opposites. A superhero movie is only as great as its villains. I think they both provide a piece of that.”

As to why Klaue is such a problem:

“You have Wakanda, which is an isolationist society, Klaue has entered that space and knows more about it than anybody else. Because of that, he is a threat. Not to mention that he’s accessed this gift that could also be a curse to the rest of the world.”

It sounds like that we’ll be getting quite a bit more than an action movie here and there will be real depth in developing the world of Wakanda. I’m eagerly looking forward to not only the introduction to this nation but how they’ll factor in giving sanctuary to Captain America’s team of Avengers as you know that’ll come into play.

What are your thoughts on the direction of ‘Black Panther’? Are you happy to hear that Klaue is set to be the real villain of the film? Share your thoughts below True Believers!

Stuart Conover

Stuart Conover is a father, husband, blogger, published author, geek, entrepreneur, editor of Horror Tree, horror fanatic, science fiction junkie, lives in a world of comics, and a casual gamer (all of this when his wife lets him of course.) He fell in love with science fiction and horror at the same time while watching the movie Alien at probably far too young of an age while still being extremely impressionable and has been happily obsessed with both since! Around the same time he had also developed an unhealthy addiction to comic books that continues to this day!